08 June 2015

Revamped website shows people can come to faith online

People can come to faith while sitting at their computer
screens but not by stumbling upon Bible verses quoted out of context, mission
workers were told this week during the re-launch of a unique website that
answers people's questions about the Christian faith.

Every month, thousands of people look for answers to questions
about Christianity on www.christianity.org.uk
–from what do Christians believe about homosexuality to can I have my baby
Christened? –demonstrating an appetite to know more.Many of them use the website to get in touch
with the Christian Enquiry Agency for personal answers to individual questions.

British adults are more likely to be internet-literate than
knowledgeable about the Bible, so churches must engage online as this is the
place where seekers are found.

Research from the Adults' Media Use and Attitudes Report
2014 showed 83 per cent of adults now go online using any type of device in any
location and nearly all (98 per cent) aged between 16 and 34 are online.

But it's not just the young ones –there has been a nine
percentage point increase in those aged 65-plus going online –up to 42 per
cent.

At the other end of the computer screen, answering people's
questions and replying to people's comments is Peter Graystone, co-ordinator of
the Christian Enquiry Agency, which runs the website.

He said: "I am staggered at what people tell me about their
spiritual thoughts behind the privacy of a computer screen. The longing for
faith and meaning hasn't gone away. People who would never walk into a church
on a Sunday morning to find answers will readily look for them in a search
engine at midnight on a Friday.

"We always give people what they ask for, and nothing more
than that. But if their question is, 'Does praying ever work?' it begins a
conversation that might continue by email for months. And when we share our
experience, Jesus makes himself known. In the goodness of God, people are
coming to real faith online in a way I would not have thought possible some
years ago.

Speaking at the launch of the revamped www.christianity.org.uk website,
Gavin Calver – on his first day as director of mission at the Evangelical
Alliance – said there is a clear need for Christians to engage with the
cultural contexts in which they live in order to draw people towards God. "We
need to re-imagine our style," he said. "The substance doesn't change, but the
method has to. We need to change the method in order that people can hear us.
We need to tell Jesus stories in a world that wants to hear them.

"A lot of us lock ourselves away in the Church and speak a
language only the Church speaks, so when we encounter people who don't know
Jesus, we find it hard to relate to them. We need a more incarnational form of
ministry at times that gets in among people."

Dr Bex Lewis, research fellow in social media and online
learning at CODEC, St John's College Durham, warned of the potential dangers of
Christians bombarding their social media contacts with Bible verses without any
context, but encouraged people to form real, in-depth relationships.

"Social media is about relationships," she said. "How do we
encourage people to make those online relationships real? A lot of social media
is about getting to know people and finding a starting point for conversation.
A huge amount of it is listening. It's not just about pushing content out."

In 2014, there were more than 300,000
views of the www.christianity.org.uk
website, with visitors ranging from school pupils wanting help with their
religious education homework, to people who felt depressed and needed a
listening ear, to those who are opposed to Christianity.

Peter Graystone added: "Just write christianity.org.uk on
the bottom of posters, emails or anything that is read by people beyond the
walls of a church.It's so easy, and
it's free.We'll do all the rest."